She woke from her short reverie and checked her watch, only five minutes had passed. Her old bones were aching, spending six hours in a waiting room wasn’t good for her, she guessed. The nurse at the desk looked up and gave her a cautious smile, she smiled back even though she wasn’t entirely feeling it. Her eyes wandered down the hall of the maternity ward, wondering what was happening in the room she had left her daughter in.

A nurse finally emerged from the room carrying an infant, she hurried into the nursery and set the baby down behind the glass then half ran back to the room. Kelly stood up to take a first look at her new grand daughter. The little fingers of the baby worked furiously testing the bounds of it’s new world, the pink blanket. To her the girl seemed somewhat pale, but, from the way she was moving, she certainly seemed healthy.

The scuffing of feet made her look up just in time to watch another pair of nurses rush into her daughter’s room. The girl at the desk was looking at the room as well, she didn’t seem happy. Finally she too stood up and jogged to the room.

Kelly rested against the glass, trying to keep her focus on her grand child and not on the questions filling her mind. The child was settling in for sleep, probably tired from it’s ordeal. She smiled, wondering what it would be like, watching her daughter raise a child the way her mother had watched her. Finally, she could understand all those times her own mother had just stood there shaking her head.

Out of the corner of her eyes she caught someone leaving the room, she turned to face them then froze. It was black as pitch and covered in blood, about as tall as her from it’s toes to it’s head, but wicked spines extending from it’s shoulders and back went higher. It was obviously female, all the anatomical bits were easy enough to recognize in motion. Finally her eyes settled on the face, and her mind shattered.

It began running towards her, and her mind restarted. ‘Have to run. Get it away. Get it away from the baby. Get it away. I don’t want to die! Run! RUN!’ Her footfalls echoed down the hall, it’s steps echoed close behind. A nurse walked out of a room off to her side, barely a note as she blew past. The scream behind her was nice and loud, but ended in a sickening gurgle. ‘Run. Run! Get ahead! RUN!’ Her mind screamed at her legs to move faster but it wasn’t enough.

She reached out and touched the door to the stairwell ahead of her as a step landed directly behind her. The door turned red in front of her. ‘Strange. So beautiful.’